The acceptability of different types of soymilks available in Cape Town in consumers from high and low socio‐economic areas

The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge and acceptability of soymilk (defined as consumption pattern/usage and taste) by adult consumers, residing in different socio‐economic areas (low vs. high) in Cape Town. The study population of 214 participants were selected using convenience sampling. A questionnaire was developed in order to obtain demographic data (four items); basic general knowledge of soymilk (four items); and acceptability of the tested products (consumption patterns and taste) (eight items). There was a significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.000) regarding basic knowledge of soymilk, with significantly more in the high socio‐economic area (HSEA) having a score of at least 75%. Gender (P = 0.082) and age (P = 0.122) did not have a significant impact on the consumption patterns of soymilk. There was no significant difference between the two groups with respect to current usage (P = 0.228) and frequency of use (P = 0.213) of soymilk. However, a significantly smaller group (P = 0.000) of participants in the low socio‐economic area had previously tasted soymilk compared with those in the HSEA (16.7% vs. 41.5%; P = 0.000). In conclusion, socio‐economic status appeared to be associated with knowledge of soymilk. No significant differences with regard to gender, age or current usage in the two groups studied were noted.     

American youth consumption of licit and illicit substances

Using a representative sample of the 2001 National School‐based Youth Risk Behavior Survey, this study investigated the contemporaneous and intertemporal relationship between the use of licit and illicit substances by American youth between the ages 12 and 18. The results indicated a strong contemporaneous relationship between smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, and using cocaine. The results supported the gateway hypothesis indicating that prior smoking of cigarettes is significantly associated with the probability of current marijuana and cocaine use, as prior drinking of alcohol is significantly associated with the probability of current marijuana and cocaine use. The results also showed that males had a higher probability of using cocaine than females, whereas black students had a higher probability of smoking marijuana and using cocaine than white students. Age and race were associated with marijuana and cocaine use, but cocaine use was further linked with the factors of gender, region, and metropolitan area. These findings could have implications for public policies regarding prevention.     

Economic Impacts of Technology,Population Growth And Soil Erosion At Watershed Level: The Case Of the Ginchi in Ethiopia

A dynamic bio‐economic model is used to show that, without technological and policy intervention, soil loss levels, income and nutrition could not be substantially or sustainably improved in a highland area of Ethiopia. Although cash incomes could rise by more than 40% over a twelve‐year planning period, average per ha soil losses could be as high as 31 tonnes per ha. With the adoption of an integrated package of new technologies, however, results show the possibility of an average two‐and‐a‐half‐fold increase in cash incomes and a 28% decline in aggregate erosion levels even with a population growth rate of 2.3%. Moreover, a minimum daily calorie intake of 2000 per adult equivalent could be met from on‐farm production with no significant increases in erosion. However, higher rates of growth in nutritional requirements and population introduce significant strains on the watershed system. From a policy perspective, there is a need for a more secure land tenure policy than currently prevailing to facilitate uptake of the new technology package, and a shift from the current livestock management strategy to one that encourages livestock keeping as a commercial enterprise. It would also imply a shift to a more site‐specific approach to land management.     

Foreign capital inflows,domestic savings and the price of political stability in the sudan: Weisskopf revisited

This paper reworks Weisskopf's estimates of the effect of foreign capital inflow on domestic savings for a later time period. The Sudan is presented as an example of a public sector dominated economy, dependent on one major export crop and politically unstable. While Weisskopf's savings function had an indication of a negative relationship between public sector savings and official foreign capital inflow, problems of collinearity between the independent variables cast doubt on its utility for analysis of economies dependent on limited primary exports. The negative relationship between public sector savings and official is explained in terms of the expansion of the state's bureaucracy and military.     

Do consumption expenditures depend on the household’s relative position in the income distribution?

Even though the permanent income and relative income hypotheses have been introduced in past research to explain consumer behaviour, no previous attempt was undertaken to integrate them in one model. In this article, the hypotheses were synthesized into a single model. The model was empirically tested using data from the 1996 Canadian Family Expenditure Survey. The results indicate that household consumption behaviour is generally explained by both hypotheses when integrated into one model, contrary to previously treating them as mutually exclusive hypotheses.     

Systèmes De Gestion Des Ressources Humaines Et Performance Organisationnelle

Résumé ** :  La gestion des ressources humaines et son effet sur la performance de la firme représentent encore de nos jours une zone d'indétermination. Plusieurs théories tentent d'ailleurs d'expliquer cette importante relation. C'est l'approche configurationnelle des ressources humaines qui servira de filtre théorique à cette recherche. Validant cette approche auprès de 46 entreprises financières canadiennes, nous avons démontré, en partie du moins, la robustesse de cette approche stratégique de gestion des ressources humaines. Il ne fait aucun doute qu'une telle approche représente une alternative stratégique intéressante, capable d'accroître l'efficacité de nos firmes dans ce monde économique impitoyable et mondialisé.     

The balance sheet channel of monetary policy: the panel evidence of Egypt

This paper examines the effects of monetary policy on firms’ investments in Egypt using disaggregated data and generalized method of moments (GMM) technique. It develops the neoclassical investment model by adding the interaction between user cost of capital and cash flow (CF). Therefore, monetary policy affects investment through three effects: user cost of capital, CF and interaction between them. Using a sample of 124 firms, the empirical finding supports the relevance of balance sheet channel (BSC) and the heterogeneous effect of monetary policy on investment. This finding signals that monetary authority should take cognizance of the stability of interest rate to stabilize firm-level investment.     

Investigating the causality links between environmental quality,foreign direct investment and economic growth in MENA countries

This paper investigates the causal relationship between environmental quality, Foreign Direct Investment and economic growth using simultaneous-equation panel data VAR model a panel of 17 MENA countries over the period 1990–2012. Our empirical results pointed out that there is a unidirectional causality running from both FDI stocks and CO₂ emissions to economic growth. They also indicate the existence of unidirectional causality running from economic growth to CO₂ emissions. However, the results support the occurrence of unidirectional causality from FDI stocks to CO₂ emissions. Our empirical result confirms the hypothesis of neutrality for the Environment-GDP link. There is bidirectional causality from ${\text{CO}}_2$emissions and economic growth, and a bidirectional causal relationship between FDI stocks and CO₂ emissions. For the global panel, we show that the existence of a unidirectional causality running from FDI stocks to economic growth; a bidirectional causality between economic growth and CO₂ emissions; as well as a bidirectional causality between FDI stocks and ${\text{CO}}_2$emissions.     

The effect of mode 4 liberalization on illegal immigration

This paper aims to assess the impacts of the temporary movement of workers on the illegal immigration. It uses a discrete time, forward-looking model with heterogeneous agents, in order to describe the decision made by illegal migrants from developing countries. Illegal migrants are supposed to accede only to the informal sector and are price takers, as they have no negotiating power. Taking into account these specifications, the theoretical model is solved analytically and illustrated numerically. It demonstrates that under some conditions, the liberalization of temporary movement of workers could lead to a decrease of illegal migration.